[dieterbrock]

Are the blues still run by Dave Checketts?
He nearly ran Madison square garden in to the ground and they basically print money

[Hacksaw]

Are the blues still run by Dave Checketts?
He nearly ran Madison square garden in to the ground and they basically print money

Here's his approved take on himself.

David W. Checketts
Principal Owner and Chairman, St. Louis Blues
Chairman, SCP Worldwide

David W. Checketts founded SCP Worldwide (SCP) in September 2001. Mr. Checketts is one of the most heralded sports, media and entertainment executives and currently serves as its Chairman.

Under his direction and leadership, SCP has acquired an impressive stable of assets. In June 2006 the company acquired the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League, Scottrade Center and Peabody Opera House (which is scheduled to re-open this Fall after an extensive and heralded renovation project) as well as purchasing the Blues’ AHL affiliate Peoria Rivermen in July 2008. In 2004, SCP acquired the twelfth Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise launching Real Salt Lake and in October of 2008 opened, to critical acclaim, Rio Tinto Stadium – a 20,000 seat multi-purpose open air facility in Sandy, Utah. In October 2009 Real Salt Lake became Champions of Major League Soccer. SCP owns Salt Lake City sports-talk radio station KALL700 Sports, has a controlling interest in Running Subway, an entertainment production company, and owns Tupelo-Honey a heralded media production company.

Mr. Checketts created his sports media company after a successful ten-year career at Madison Square Garden (MSG). As President and Chief Executive Officer for seven years, Mr. Checketts oversaw all operations of one of the most powerful sports and entertainment companies globally, including the “World’s Most Famous Arena” and its three sports franchises, the New York Knickerbockers of the NBA, the New York Rangers of the NHL, and the New York Liberty of the WNBA – along with the award winning MSG Network and FOX Sports Network. In 1997, while at his post, Mr. Checketts took on the ambitious acquisition and comprehensive restoration of New York’s historic Radio City Music Hall. Although MSG, under his leadership, was awarded with many accomplishments such as being named Arena of the Year for six straight years, the achievement he takes most pride in is the establishment of the MSG “Cheering for Children” foundation which created after school programs for thousands of New York City school children.

Mr. Checketts began his career at Madison Square Garden as President of the New York Knicks in March 1991. In the four seasons he served as President, the team finished twice in first place, made it to the Eastern Conference Finals twice and captured the Eastern Conference Champion Title in 1994. During this time, the team set records in attendance, ratings and revenues including setting the all-time sellout streak of 460 games at The Garden. Forbes named the Knicks the most valuable franchise in the NBA.

In his role as Governor of the Knicks (NBA), Rangers (NHL) and Liberty (WNBA), Mr. Checketts was instrumental in all three leagues development and mission. For the NBA, he was part of both the Planning Committee and the Labor Relations Committee which included being a lead negotiator in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in 1999. For the WNBA, he was one of the founding partners and served on the League’s Operating Committee.

Prior to joining the Knicks, Mr. Checketts spent one year as General Manager of NBA International, working with NBA Commissioner David Stern on building a presence for the league in broadcasting and licensing around the world.

In 1983, Mr. Checketts was named President and General Manager of the Utah Jazz. At 28 years old, he became the youngest chief executive in the history of the NBA. During his six year tenure, the team captured two Midwest Division titles and enjoyed a multi-million dollar economic turnaround.

Mr. Checketts did his undergraduate studies at the University of Utah and earned his MBA from Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1981, where he graduated with top honors. Upon completion of his studies, he joined the Boston based consulting firm, Bain & Company.

Mr. Checketts serves on the Board of Directors of Republic Mortgage and JetBlue Airways, where he serves as the Chairman, Compensation Committee.

He resides in Connecticut with his wife Deb. They have six children and five grandchildren.

[TSFH Fan]

Looking at Checketts' connections to Utah, I'd hope he'd consider moving his hockey team there.
Nothing says Jazz and Blues like Utah, right?

[TSFH Fan]

It's gotta be real hard to lose money in a salary cap league -- it takes either (a) bad management (see Checketts above) or (b) good tax accountants.

Neither of those things fit into the narrative I want, so I'll go with (c) dead market. Fans will support the team if it's a playoff team, but too bad, that's not enough. Man, that market's so dead, I bet they're talking about Jack Buck making a comeback.

[moklerman]

The stadium sell gets tougher still in St. Louis when the owner is a multi-billionaire capable of bankrolling the project all by himself. The sell becomes borderline impossible when that same multi-billionaire is aggressively forsaking St. Louis for Southern California."

That may be where things are right now, but it ignores how they got there.

Plus, one can't have it both ways. Either Stan "bankrolls" a new stadium and reaps the benefits and gets to do things his way or St. Louis bankrolls it so they get the rewards. What is being proposed right now is that St. Louis gets to decide how everything is done, gets to benefit from everything, gets to control everything and Stan gets to pay for it.

Gee, I wonder why he isn't embracing that idea?